PCB CEO urges fans to be patient with Pakistan team

Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Wasim Khan said fans of the Pakistan side are not patient enough after the side was roundly criticised for their drubbing during the tour of Australia, 7 News has reported.

Pakistan suffered a 2-0 defeat to Australia in the three-match T20I series before losing both Tests by an innings.

“What Pakistan isn’t really good at, particularly the public, is being patient,” Wasim said in an interview. “If we win two-three games, we are the best in the world; if we lose, sack everybody. For us, it’s important that we back these guys. Pakistan teams in the past, when they were under the pump, might have fallen quickly, but these guys have fought and we have seen some good performances from the likes of Mohammad Rizwan, Babar Azam, Shan Masood and Yasir Shah.”

Speaking on the dearth of international cricket in Pakistan, the PCB official said that the nation went back a generation as they were unable to see their national heroes perform at home grounds. “There are 220 million people in Pakistan, politics and cricket are the two main diets of the whole country. The country has been starved of cricket for a very long time.”

He said that the country still has an appetite for Tests.

Wasim said that the cricket board has suffered financially after being forced to host matches on neutral venues. “We recently played Australia in the UAE. We played five ODIs and that cost us close to $2 million and unfortunately, nobody watches over there so it’s just a complete loss-making exercise for us. People in Pakistan are tuned in to watch it and our players are walking out to empty stadiums and many of them have never played in front of their home crowds.”

He said that Pakistan are ready to play against India anywhere in the world but the Indian government is reluctant to give the green signal to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for a bilateral series. “We have got a very good relation with the BCCI but unfortunately they have to go to their government to seek permission. We are willing to play against them anywhere but unfortunately their government is not giving them permission.”